


Everything Happens For A Reason

by DaronwyK



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-27 08:03:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16214888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaronwyK/pseuds/DaronwyK
Summary: Trapped together by a spring storm, Neville and Hermione confess their feelings for one another.





	Everything Happens For A Reason

**Author's Note:**

> Usual disclaimers apply, Many thanks to my beta.

* * *

 

 

A massive crack resounded through the Dark Forest as lightning struck one of the ancient oaks. Hermione was running as fast as her legs could carry her, Neville hot on her heels. The storm had come up fast and something about it felt sinister, almost alive with a kind of dark purpose as it drove them through the woods. They’d been hunting for rare specimens for Professor Sprout, and had just finished collected them when the storm had erupted all around them.  

 

“There! I see a cabin!” Hermione yelled over her shoulder, trying to be heard over the pounding rain.

 

It was barely visible through the heavy rain, almost completely overgrown with vines, but it was shelter and right now they desperately needed it. Hermione was the first to reach the rickety old door and she stumbled inside, slamming it shut as Neville followed through right on her heels. Another massive thunder-clap shook the decrepit structure, a testament to how lucky they were to have found this place at all. They were both bent over, breathing hard as they struggled to recover from their mad dash through the woods.  

 

“You alright, Hermione?” Neville asked, straightening and looking at her with a worried expression.

 

“Yeah, just a bit winded. That came up really fast.” She walked to a grimy window and used the sleeve of her jacket to rub a little clear space so she could look out into the storm. “We’re lucky this cabin was here,” she remarked, still a bit in disbelief of their good fortune.

 

“Yeah, I wonder who used to live out here,” Neville mused and looked around, using his wand to repair two chairs so they’d have somewhere to sit down. “It’s a long way from Hogwarts, and the centaurs claim this part of the forest as their territory.”

 

“Whoever it was, it’s clear no one’s been here in a very long time.” Hermione frowned and checked the old stone fireplace. She used a cleaning charm before starting a fire in the grate, rubbing her hands together to warm them up. She was chilled straight through to the bone and from the sounds of the storm raging outside, they would be stuck here for a while. Unfortunately, they were on Hogwarts’ grounds and apparating was rather impossible. With a casual flick of her wand, she cast two drying charms over them to at least take care of their wet clothing and hair. All they could do now was try and wait this out.

 

“I’m sorry about all of this,” Neville apologized as they both sat down.

 

“It’s not your fault, Neville.” Hermione shook her head, protesting. He always tried to blame himself, and she hated that he felt like everything was somehow his fault.

 

“Yes, it is. If I’d been brave enough to come out here and gather my own specimens, you’d be warm and dry back at the castle.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

 

“And I’d be worried sick about you out here on your own.” She rolled her eyes a little. “I wanted to come along, you didn’t force me.” Sometimes she wondered if he was even more oblivious than Harry and Ron. She liked spending time with Neville, and he was very sweet in a shy kind of way. “Finding those standing stones was great luck too, I’ll be using them for my final Runes paper.”

 

“Well, I don’t think my samples survived our run, so at least one of us got something useful out of today.” Neville just gave her a small smile. “I’m sorry about you and Ron. I know it’s been a couple weeks, but it just didn’t seem like the right time to say anything.”

 

Hermione looked down for a moment, feeling a wave of sadness hit her as she looked at her bare ring finger. It was still hard to look at it; the loss too fresh in her mind to ignore. She’d returned to finish her NEWTs, along with a group of other students whose seventh year had been interrupted by the war. Ron had gone to work for the Auror’s office, but before she’d returned to Hogwarts he had proposed. It had been sweet and rather romantic, but by Yule it was clear that they’d both been too hasty. They’d decided to go their separate ways during the spring hols. Ron wanted to be free to pursue the dozens of witches who had been throwing themselves at him, and she’d wanted the freedom to pursue a mastery after school. Even though he’d been hinting at it for months, when she’d brought the subject up it had been a messy, emotionally damaging fight.

 

“It…I think we were more in love with the idea of each other, than the reality,” she whispered softly, lifting her eyes to look at Neville. “I’ll be ok, eventually.”

 

Neville reached over and placed a hand over hers, squeezing gently. “He never deserved someone like you,” he said, his voice steady and sure as he met her eyes. “At least, I always thought so.” He blushed a bit and dropped his eyes then.

 

Hermione turned her hand over and kept him from pulling away. “Why didn’t you ever say something?”

 

“You know why.” Neville sighed, looking down. “You’re just so…perfect, at everything, and I’m just a screw up. The only thing I’ve ever been good at is Herbology and if not for you, I’d have failed just about everything else. Why would a girl like you ever look at me?”

 

“Oh Neville…” she said softly, stunned by his admission. “You’re not a screw up.” She scooted her chair forward so their knees were touching and she dipped her head to catch his eyes. “You’re not just good at Herbology, you’re brilliant at it. It’s your gift Neville and you’re a lot better at things than you give yourself credit for.”

 

“Guys like me never get the witch, Hermione.” He swallowed and lifted his hand to hesitantly touch her cheek. “But when I’m with you, I wish that I could be the kind of wizard that does.”

 

Hermione leaned into the soft touch. “You are that wizard, Neville, but only if you let yourself believe it.” She remembered how he’d stood against Voldemort and the other Death Eaters, boldly declaring his devotion to their cause. He was so much braver than he knew and it broke her heart a little that he didn’t see it. “When I first came to Hogwarts, I didn’t have any friends. You were the only one that talked to me, and would sit with me in classes. Harry and Ron are my best friends now, but you were my first friend, even though it sometimes gets a little lost in the chaos I always seem to get dragged into.”

 

Neville chuckled a little. “Chaos…that’s a good way to describe our school years. I think this is the first year we’ve had without major threat to life and limb.”

 

Hermione laughed in turn. “I know, I keep waiting for some great evil to lift its head and come after us.” She took a minute to really look at him. He’d grown into a handsome wizard, though he was completely unaware of it and it only made him more endearing to her. The year she’d spent away, he’d filled out his frame and shed the softness of their earlier years. He wasn’t a boy anymore; he’d grown up and in the absence of Harry, he’d led the DA and protected the students as best he could. “My point is, you don’t have to dream about being ‘that wizard’, Neville. You are him, if you want to be.”

 

Neville frowned a moment, until what she was saying suddenly made sense. He blinked and almost fell off the chair. “You really mean that?”

 

“Have you ever known me to say anything that I didn’t mean?” She smirked a little.

 

Neville leaned forward and just very hesitantly, brushed a kiss across her lips. His hand slipped back into her hair, and he only broke the kiss when another massive thunderclap shook the cabin, sounding like it was almost directly overhead.

 

“You’d really want to be with me?” Neville asked, still in wonder that it could be true.

 

“If I didn’t, we both know I would have hexed you when you kissed me.” Her eyes glittered playfully. “I like you, Neville. I like you a lot.”

 

Neville smiled and leaned in, kissing her again. This time he was more certain of himself, the kiss a little more confident and a touch demanding. He broke it after a moment and met her eyes. “I like you too, and I would be honoured if you’d be my date to Hogsmeade next weekend.”

 

“I’d love to.” What had seemed like horrible luck when the storm first broke, now seemed to be just what they’d needed. Hermione’s mum had told her once that everything happened for a reason, maybe everything that had gone wrong today, had been meant to bring her and Neville together. Whatever the reason, she’d never been so happy to be caught in a storm.

 

~Fin


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